To bronze or not to bronze?

I am latey latey with the blog post. Have you noticed? The dog ate my homework…wait, not this. This summer the hot weather in London with being in air conditioning for 9 hours messed up my entire system. Every time these days that I tried to sit in front of the laptop screen- migraine! Getting back to the question about bronzing, damaging UV left behind, I would say, to bronze! I do realize that to be bronzed does not mean the same thing in every culture, but where I come from, looking slightly tanned is synonymous with looking healthy.

The older I get the more I hear how harming the sun rays are and thinking that I used to bath in them for hours when I was a child… The sun might make us feel healthy in the beginning but abusing it, it can actually age our skin. It’s useless saying how important SPF is any time of the year. This being said, I am looking for a new SPF. I am using the Anthelios from La Roche Posay but it irritates my skin if I use it three days in a row so I need a better solution.

I, personally, despite the fact that I am quite fair, I have the potential of getting a nice tan. This happens only after I attend the tomato competition because first I turn red (bright red) and only after then I start exploring shades of brown. Because of this and because of the lack of time, I started looking for makeup to give me that healthy bronzed look, but without the red, dry too tanned skin effect. I have three makeup products at hand that serve a a very similar purpose, and if you are into makeup, you’ll find an excuse to have all three, just like me.

Urban Decay Beached Bronzer in Sun-kissed

This is my all year round bronzer. The shade suits me both at my palest or at my wow! I have actually been in the sun enough to get a tan. For now I only use powder bronzers so if I want to look healthy, sun-kissed as the name suggests – this is my go to. It’s easily buildable which means that if you have a light hand with it, you will barely see it on the skin, but if you repeat the process a few times – you have the potential of looking like a bronzed goddess.

bronzed | miss casual — can you tell how much I like it?

Benefit – Hoola (the original)

This is a tricky one for me. I received a sample of this in one of the beauty boxes and if you have watched makeup gurus on Youtube, you might remember that this bronzer was receiving everyone’s praise. It’s much finer than the Urban Decay one but this also means that if you want to build up a bronzed look, your hand has to be lighter than a butterfly. Personally, I think the problem for me is the shade. Probably the newer version, Hoola light will suit my skin tone better. When I did manage to get nicely bronzed though, the undertone of this bronzer looked like nothing else.

Too Faced – Sweetie Pie Radiant Matte Bronzer

You might ask yourself – radiant matte? What a big fat lie that is? That is a contradiction! But somehow, when you put the bronzer on the face, it makes sense. On my skin, this looks like a matte bronzer except if I do manage to bring it slightly higher, to my cheekbones, it reflects a very natural glow. All honesty, this is my lazy product, the one I use all the time.

Despite the cutest presentation (it really does look like a pie) and the fact that the smell is yummi without being overpowering, this will give you a soft bronzed but blushy look. If I can’t be bothered putting foundation on and it’s just a concealer kind of day, this is what you see on my face to make me look healthy and slightly blushed.

What is your opinion on being bronzed? Do you think it’s necessary, does it make you feel any different and most importantly, what bronzer do you use. Liquid or powder?

Until next time…kisses!

July 30, 2018 1

Eyeshadow palettes I am not using anymore

My eyeshadow palette collection is not a huge one. I would say that it’s bigger than I’d need it to be, but It’s not even close to what we see on Youtube nowadays. Even so, I have eyeshadow palettes that I am not using.

Most often, the reason for this is packaging. If the eyeshadow palette is bulky and can’t fit in with the rest of the palettes, it’s bound to be exiled somewhere else and be forgotten. Other times, the colour combination could be the one that is holding me back from using the palette. It can be that it’s not inspiring me or that I have similar colours to those in an eyeshadow palette that I already use.

Also, please keep in mind that what you are about to see are not necessarily bad palettes, these are palettes that I am just not grabbing every single week for some reason or another. The pictures will not be the clean, perfect ones we are so used to seeing on Instagram. Some of these palettes are dusty which you’ll be able to see on the mirrors which did not seem to want to be cleaned…just thought I’d give you a heads up.

1. Kat von D – Metal Matte

When this eyeshadow palette came out I was so excited! It was interesting how depending on how you held the packaging, it said either metal or matte. Also, the eyeshadows inside seemed so exciting and for the longest time, they were. I used this palette a lot.

The metallic eyeshadows are very pigmented and soft and are a pleasure to wear, except the purple one which for some reason, the moment I apply it, it changes colour slightly. Same goes for some of the matte eyeshadows. I know it’s a strange thing to complain about, but if I need a particular shade and when I apply it it becomes ashier that I want it to be, there is not win there, right?

The main problem however, is how big this eyeshadow palette is. It does not fit with any of the rest of my palettes and most often, even though it’s a very good quality palette, I forget I have it or I can’t be bothered taking it out from where I found a place for it.

2. Too Faced – Sweet Peach

This eyeshadow palette was used like a hero before it was almost retired. Do you know how we always see in police movies that after they retire, some officers just can’t mind they own very quiet new life and keep in doing what their job was for years? This is how this palette is. I have used up completely the white in the palette and I have two more metallic eyeshadows that I use quite often and the matte coral shade. Other than that, the rest of the eyeshadows lay untouched.

This is something that I heard happens quite a lot with Too Faced eyeshadow palettes. There are a few very good quality eyeshadows, some that are good but won’t knock you off your feet and others that you won’t even waste your time with. That is exactly what is happening with this eyeshadow palette.

This does not mean that all Too Faced eyeshadow palettes are like this. I am still loving my Chocolate Gold one and it’s hard not to use it every day. Other than that, The Sweet Peach palette has a very slim packaging which is why I keep it with the rest of my palettes and after more than two years of use, it still smells like peaches, but not in an overpowering way.

3. Urban Decay – Full Spectrum

This is another palette that got me so excited at first because of all the bright colours. Of course, I don’t wear bright colours every day so I knew that I won’t be using this eyeshadow palette a lot but I am still not using it as I should be.

There are two problems with this palette: the packaging and the quality. The packaging is not that bad, but if you’ve ever been in an apartment in London, you know that space is gold. Which this palette is taking up a bit more space than the rest and it’s not giving the same satisfaction as the rest are.

The biggest issue though, is quality. I tried a wet brush, dens brush, finger, still, some of the eyeshadows are not as pigmented as I wanted them to be. Especially when you have bright colours, if you need to build them up too much, be sure that the excess that did not want to stick to your lid, is now under your eyes. Again, there are so many great Urban Dceay eyeshadow palettes, but this is not one of the best.

4. Huda Beauty – Rose Gold

How I loved this palette! I still do, but not as I used to. When I first saw the colours I was in for the ride. I did not mind at all that the metallics are a different formula than anything on the market and that they looked more like a chunky pigment on your lids, I loved that! I still use most of the textured eyeshadows in the palette.

It is almost unfair that this eyeshadow palette is in this blog post, but truth is, even though I love it, I seem to favor other palettes when I do my makeup. The matte eyeshadows are slightly drier than the ones in the Desert Dusk palette but they are still good eyeshadows: they are pigmented and blend well. However, I just seem to prefer the tones in my other palettes.

I have not tried the Remastered edition of this palette, but if Huda kept on improving her eyeshadows, they must be good because the rest of her palettes are amazing!

These are the 4 palettes in my collection that I don’t use that often, from various reasons. The most serious one is the quality one, which means that it’s only a matter of time until I declutter them. I do have single eyeshadows that I don’t use that often either but that is my fault: I did not organize them in ages so that I will need to reach for one palette of singles and not three half empty ones.

Do you have eyeshadow palettes that you don’t use very often? How do you “convince” yourself to using them more?

Latest makeup post – here

July 15, 2018 0

Two makeup looks with Naked Heat

I might have promised a few posts ago that I will do a few makeup looks with the Naked Heat palette from Urban Decay. I used this palette a lot lately and now I feel comfortable to say that I can do an actual review. The surprise is, even though I used it considerably more than the last time I wrote a post about the palette, my thoughts have not changed. It’s still a very concise palette colour-wise which if you are a beginner, it’s perfect because it will not allow you to choose colours that don’t go with each other.

With metallic and shimmery eyeshadows, we all know they are in general very good. They are easy to apply, have a good pay-off and they are easy to blend. With matte eyeshadows though, they are not always what we’d expect. Sometimes they turn out dryer than we expected, less pay-off and the biggest problem is that they cling to one part of the lid and don’t seem to blend any further. Not these ones!

I am more in a matte eyeshadows phase and also, the matte ones in this palette are really good so I have prepared 2 makeup looks using only the matte eyeshadows in the Urban Decay- Naked Heat palette. Also, I added a twist for both look, something that can change your makeup look completely.

1. Office makeup look

A very simple, almost natural makeup look. This is my go to for work because the colours are neutral and even though I am wearing makeup, it looks minimal. Also, if you need the sensation of lifted eyes, which is a few extra hours of sleep, using the darker colour in the outer corner will help you reach that.

As I told you at the beginning of this blog post, I am only using the matte colours in the Naked Heat palette and FYI – they were really, really easy to use. If you look at the first four colours, they looks so similar to each other but that is exactly the reason why you can create dimension easily.

To switch things up and to use another product that gets forgotten about most often, I elevated the makeup look with a liner which after drying, I’ve smudged lightly with the darkest colour in the palette. If you have hazel eyes, this colour will make them look so green!

This makeup look is still work appropriate, but it’s much more fun!

2. In a rush makeup look

It’s only now that I see that I should have brought the brick-red a bit higher, but in real life, this was not so obvious!:D If you are in a rush, this is the quickest makeup look. I still used the transition shades in the crease because I wanted to test-drive as many eyeshadows as possible, but truth be told, this makeup look would have worked just with the one main colour all over the lid.

Depending on what you use in the inner corner, this makeup look can be for day or night, the trick is – it is very quick to do!

Also, I wanted to use a highlighter that I don’t use on my face too much but ever since I had a friend over that played with my makeup and used it in the inner corner, it got used a little more.

This duo-chrome highlighter might be too intimidating to be used on the face, but on the eyes, we can use it however we want. Inner corner is easy but I was curious if I were to put it on top of a matte eyeshadow, would it still look nice and not make the eyeshadow move?

And as you can see, it does change everything. I applied it with my finger because it’s too fine for the brush, but it did not move the matte eyeshadow underneath at all. Yuppi, I’ll do this again.

Which of the makeup looks is your personal favourite and which one do you think you’d wear more often?

Kisses!

Another makeup looks video- here

July 4, 2018 0

The perfect gift – Naked Heat palette

From all the things that you can gift and be gifted, I have two favourites. One of them is jewellery, I love giving jewellery and even more, I love receiving it. If you read my post about my rings collection, you’ll know by now that I have so many memories related to the jewellery that I received – people, places, situations. The second favourite thing to give, and be given even more, is makeup. I am not a hoarder, but makeup just sparks my candle (is this the expression?) and when my parents came to visit and they’ve given me a beautifully wrapped package in a Sephora bag – my eyes went wide, my heart started beating faster. It was the Naked Heat palette from Urban Decay.

If you know me, you know that most of the colours that I wear are warm tones: corals, browns, bronzes, reds, and sometimes I do venture into cool tones, but I always come back to my first love. The Naked Heat palette which you might have seen all over Youtube is the fantasy which became reality of a warm-toned lover. I am one of those. I could barely stay away from not swatching the eyeshadows before we took pictures of the palette.

When it first came out, it was sold out in a matter of days, re-stocked and sold out again. In London, it was impossible to find it and so many people wanted it. And now, I have my own well-traveled (it came from Romania) Naked Heat palette. I’ve wore it non-stop for a week which is not the longest time but keep in mind that I wear eye makeup daily so I did at least 7 looks with it. Were they all very different from one another? Most of them, no. The looks that can be done with the palette are quite similar but exactly because of the fact that all the shades can be worn with each other, you can never fail. If you’re just starting in makeup, this palette is really making your job easier.

Are you afraid of wearing reds? We’ve been hearing that it makes us look sick, or like we’ve been crying. The truth is, if we spend a bit more time on the base – foundation, and we conceal every bit of redness, add a bit of bronzer, we will not look like that boyfriend of ours messed around with our feelings when wearing red. On the contrary, regardless of the colour of our eyes, red brings out shades that no other colour does. My eyes are hazel and I usually love it when eyeshadows make my eyes look even more green, but red makes my eyes look like a honey – hazel. They look much much lighter.

Another thing that I like in the Naked Heat palette is that there are a ton of mattes: from the bone colour one that’s perfect to set your eye primer, to a few crease shades, from light to darker and a few colour that I love putting either all over the lid or on the outer edges for dimension. The four shimmery eyeshadows though, are something else! They are so creamy and easy to apply and of course, they compliment any of the other shades in the palette. Something that I noticed with the matte eyeshadows is that they are very powdery when I put my brush in them. Personally I don’t find this a problem because I just tap off the excess and when I apply them to the lid, I have no fall out.

Would I suggest you buy the Naked Heat palette? If you are into warm eyeshadows and you don’t have the colours yet, I would say go for it! It’s a good quality palette which will come in handy not just during summer, but any other season really. Also, I was curious, do you like gifting and be gifted makeup? I know everything is a matter of preference and with complexion makeup you need to know the exact shade, so that might be a bit more difficult. Although, I feel that with eyeshadows and lip products, you can never go wrong. Oh and if your friend is a nail polish lover – that’s even better because there are so many shades at so many price tags.

Did you try the Naked Heat palette? If you did, let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Kisses!

June 17, 2018 1